Aiknowledgt;^ 


Oak  Street 
UNCLASSIFIED 


Vol.  VIII  OCTOBER-DECEMBER.  1921  Number  1 

Published  by  Randolph-Macon  Woman'*  College 
ISSUED  QUARTERLY 


BULLETIN  OF 


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RANDOLPH -MACON    ^^ 
WOMAN'S  COLLEGE^    "^ 

LYNCHBURG.  VA. 


The  Reconstruction  of  State  Government 


BY 


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Professor  J.  F.  PEAKE 


Bntered  as  second-class  matter  January  5,  1915,  at  the  Posteffice  at  Lynchburg,  Virginia, 
under  the  Act  ol  August  24,  1Q12. 


BULLETIN 


^ 


RANDOLPH -MACON 
WOMAN'S  COLLEGE 


The  Reconstrudlion  of  State  Government 


BY 


Professor  J.  F.  PEAKE 


Published  by  Randolph-Macon  Woman's  College 
Lynchburg,  Virginia 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/reconstructionofOOpeak 


The  Reconstruction  of  State 
Government* 

By  Professor  J.  F.  Peake 

By  all  who  understand  them  our  state  governments  are  criti- 
cised as  being  inefficient,  expensive  and  frequently  unresponsive 
to  public  needs.  In  many  cases  they  are  declared  to  be  no  longer 
truly  representative  governments.  Our  state  administrative  de- 
partment has  grown  and  expan^ied  until  it  has  ceased  to  have 
any  recognizable  form  or  system.  Expansion  has  been  inevi- 
table, for  our  state  governments  have  been  constantly  trying  to 
render  greater  services  to  the  people,  but  in  this  expansion  we 
have  not  followed  any  rule  or  principle.  In  a  haphazard  manner 
we  have  added  offices,  boards  and  commissions  until  the  depart- 
ment has  become  unwieldy  and  impossible  of  supervision.  In- 
stead of  having  one  responsible  head  there  iare  nearly  as  many 
irresponsible  heads  as  there  are  agencies.  Nominally,  the  gov- 
ernor is  the  head  of  the  administrative  department,  but  in 
reality  he  is  only  one  of  many  independent  officers  having  charge 
of  enforcing  the  law.  It  is  impossible  for  him  or  for  any  one  to 
direct  the  actions  or  to  supervise  the  great  number  of  agencies 
belonging  to  this  hydra-headed  department.  When  Illinois  under- 
took administrative  reorganization  a  few  years  ago  it  was  dis- 
covered that  there  were  in  that  state  more  than  125  officers, 
boards,  commissions  and  lagencies  engaged  in  state  administrative 
work.  When  New  York  undertook  a  similar  task  it  was  found 
that  187  agencies  of  various  kinds  were  included  in  her  admin- 
istrative department.  In  all  the  other  states  that  have  not 
brought  about  some  reforms  similar  conditions  exist.  Manifestly, 
it  is  impossible  to  maintain  any  real  control  or  supervision  or  to 
have  any  real  cooperation  among  such  a  heterogeneous  mass  of 
agencies.    To  a  large  extent  each  of  these  agencies  determines 


*Read  before  the  Sphex  Club  of  Lynchburg,  Va.,  December  16,  1921. 


4  Bulletin 

its  own  action  with  the  result  of  conflict  of  authority,  over- 
lapping of  function,  duplication  of  salary,  waste  -and  extrava- 
gance. Competition  instead  of  cooperation  in  the  purchase  of 
supplies  results  in  wasting  millions  of  dollars  annually. 

The  only  relief  from  such  a  state  of  affairs  is  a  consolidation 
that  will  enable  the  state  to  abolish  many  agencies  and  establish 
a  genuine  responsibility  over  the  remaining  ones,  thereby  secur- 
ing efficiency  and  reducing  the  burden  which  the  taxpayers  are 
now  compelled  to  carry.  Immediate  results  were  forthcoming  in 
Illinois  from  the  consolidation  of  the  125  and  more  adminis- 
trative agencies  into  9  large  departments,  each  under  a  head 
appointed  by,  and  responsible  to,  the  governor.  After  it  was  in 
operation  for  two  years  it  was  declared  to  have  more  than  justi- 
fied all  expectations.  The  governor  became  the  real  head  of  the 
administrative  department  and  was  in  daily  contact  with  the 
administration  in  all  its  activities.  Unity  and  harmony  were 
secured;  vigor  and  energy  were  increased.  Moreover,  though 
the  change  was  made  in  1917,  when  costs  and  prices  of  every- 
thing w^ere  rising,  yet  the  actual  cost  of  government  to  the  people 
of  the  state  was  greatly  reduced.  The  first  year  the  change  went 
into  effect  the  state  tax  rate  was  90  cents;  the  next  year  it  was 
reduced  to  75  cents;  the  year  following  it  was  fixed  at  60  cents. 
It  has  been  declared  that  this  Civil  Administrative  Code  of 
Illinois  ''is  probably  the  most  important  and  effective  measure 
relating  to  governmental  organization  that  has  been  enacted  in 
any  state  of  the  union."  In  Idaho,  the  "Administrative  Con- 
solidation Act"  of  1919  resulted  in  abolishing  more  than  forty 
administrative  agencies.  Governor  Davis  of  that  state  declares 
that  this  act  means  the  dawn  of  a  new  era  in  civil  administration 
and  the  passing  of  the  day  ''when  the  worn-out,  creaking  system 
of  state  government  will  do." 

But  although  administrative  consolidation  is  la  long  step 
toward  more  efficient  government  it  only  partly  solves  the  prob- 
lem. It  is  not  alone  in  the  administrative  department  that  re- 
form is  needed.  Our  state  legislatures  have  fallen  very  low  in 
public  estimation.  They  no  longer  command  the  confidence  and 
respect  they  once  held.   The  length  and  character  of  recent  state 


Randolph-Macon  Woman's  College  5 

constitutions,  and  the  wide-spread  demand  for  the  initiative  and 
referendum  testify  to  this  lack  of  confidence. 

The  criticism  of  our  legislatures  is  that  they  do  not  readily 
respond  to  public  opinion,  that  the  quality  of  the  legislation 
they  enact  is  low,  and  that  as  the  guardian  of  the  public  purse 
they  are  a  complete  failure.  The  causes  of  the  shortcomings  of 
our  legislatures  may  be  lascribed  to  (1)  their  personnel,  (2) 
their  procedure  in  general  and  lack  of  leadership  in  particular, 
(3)  the  bicameral  system. 

In  respect  to  personnel  it  must  be  admitted  that  our  legis- 
latures fail  to  attract  and  hold  men  of  more  than  average 
ability.  Several  explanations  may  be  given  for  this  fact,  but 
that  it  is  a  fact  can  hardly  be  denied.  "Recent  studies  of  state 
legislatures  show  that  on  an  average  only  15%  of  our  repre- 
sentatives have  had  a  college  education,  and  what  is  worse,  not 

50%   have  enjoyed  a  full  common  school   education 

Measured  by  the  size  of  their  responsibilities,  our  legislators  do 
not  seem  equal  to  their  task."^ 

But  even  abler  men  would  be  handicapped  by  the  method  of 
procedure  that  our  legislatures  follow.  In  order  to  prevent  an 
abuse  of  power,to  provide  a  safeguard  against  hasty  action  and 
to  secure  full  consideration  and  publicity,  a  method  of  pro- 
cedure has  been  imposed  upon  our  legislatures  which  may  have 
been  wise  and  good  in  earlier  days  but  which  certainly  serves 
as  a  handicap  today.  The  freedom  with  which  any  member  may 
introduce  any  number  of  bills  on  any  subject,  the  three  pre- 
scribed readings,  reference  to  committees  and  many  other  rules 
have  served  to  clog  the  legislative  machine  and  has  put  a  pre- 
mium on  dilatory  tactics  and  delay.  Moreover,  no  leadership  of 
any  kind  is  provided  and  nobody  is  responsible  for  a  legis- 
lative program.  Legislation  is  everybody's  business  and  there- 
fore it  is  nobody's  business.  The  result  is  "logrolling,"  delay 
and  legislation  of  a  low  quality. 

These  conditions  are  made  worse  by  continuing  the  two-house 
legislature.  Again,  this  may  have  been  wise  in  the  earlier  years 
of  the  republic  but  conditions  have  so  changed  and  the  prob- 


^These  figures  are  given  by  Professor  Allen  Johnson  of  Yale  University. 


6  Bulletin 

lems  of  legislation  are  so  different  that  there  is  no  justification 
for  continuing  the  bicameral  state  legislature.  The  first  fifty 
years  of  our  history  we  were  concerned  primarily  with  political 
questions,  and  the  filtration  of  laws  through  two  different  houses 
may  have  been  a  proper  safe-guard.  But  today  most  of  our 
legislative  problems  are  social  and  economic  and  they  require 
highly  technical  and  expert  knowledge  and  a  machinery  of 
government  that  is  more  simple  and  more  easy  to  operate.  Also, 
to  justify  their  existence  and  accomplish  what  was  claimed  for 
them  originall}^,  the  two  houses  of  a  legislature  must  be  really 
different — different  in  spirit,  character  and  ability — otherwise, 
one  IS  a  mere  replica  of  the  other.  But  can  it  be  said  that  there 
is  any  real  difference  between  the  two  houses  of  an  American 
state  legislature  today?  "They  are  both  everywhere  chosen  by 
the  same  voters,  in  substantially  the  same  way  and  with  rel- 
atively unimportant  differences  as  to  the  qualifications  of  their 
members."  If,  therefore,  there  is  no  real  difference  their  exis- 
tence means  merely  an  unnecessary  duplication  which  only  adds 
to  the  delay,  complexity  and  expense  of  government.  Nor  can 
it  be  any  longer  said  that  one  house  acts  as  a  useful  check  on 
the  other.  All  legislation  today  is  party  legislation.  If,  there- 
fore, both  houses  are  controlled  by  the  same  party,  then  no  real 
check  is  imposed  by  one  upon  the  other;  if  the  two  houses  are 
controlled  by  different  parties,  then  the  legislature  is  deadlocked. 
Moreover,  there  is  no  striking  difference  between  the  two 
houses  either  in  ability  or  in  the  character  of  their  work.  A 
recent  authority  declares,  "The  fact  is  that  the  upper  chambers 
of  state  legislature  do  not  conspicuously  excel  the  lower  cham- 
bers either  in  intelligence,  sobriety  of  judgment  or  disinter- 
estedness. No  evidence  exists  that,  in  truth,  the  measures  that 
originate  in  these  upper  chambers  are  wiser  than  those  that 
take  their  rise  in  the  lower  chambers,  or  that  those  measures 
which  have  come  from  the  lower  houses  emerge  in  an  improved 
condition  from  the  upper  chambers.  And,  in  addition,  is  the 
fact  that  when  it  is  known  that  a  decision  is  not  final  but  is  sub- 
ject to  revision  and  approval  by  another  body,  it  necessarily 
has  the  tendency  to  make  the  originating  body  less  careful  than 


Randolph -Macon  Woman's  College  7 

it  otherwise  would  be  of  the  substance  and  form  of  the  measures 
to  which  it  gives  its  approval.  At  the  best  there  is  a  division  of 
responsibility  which  is  always  unfortunate."^  There  seems, 
therefore,  hardly  any  justification  for  continuing  the  bicameral 
legislature  in  our  state  government. 

Our  state  judicial  department  has  perhaps  been  subjected  to 
more  popular  criticism  than  either  of  the  other  departments. 
Only  those  who  take  the  trouble  to  study  or  investigate  the 
w^orkings  of  the  administrative  and  legislative  departments  see 
clearly  their  defects  as  organized  at  present,  but  the  defects  of 
the  judiciary  are  seen  more  generally  by  the  public. 

In  addition  to  isolated  charges  of  corruption  and  of  a  re- 
actionary tendency  on  the  part  of  a  few  courts,  widespread 
criticism  is  heard  regarding  the  administration  of  justice.  These 
criticisms  are  that  the  administration  of  justice  is  unnecessarily 
slow,  expensive  and  not  equal  for  rich  and  poor.  We  must  admit 
that  there  is  much  justification  for  the  first  two  criticisms  be- 
cause undoubtedly  our  judicial  procedure  is  antequated  and 
much  of  the  expense  attached  to  litigation  is  unnecessary  and 
unjust.  Strict  rules  have  to  be  followed,  technicalities  are 
allowed  too  much  weight  and  the  right  of  appeal  is  abused.  The 
third  criticism,  if  it  is  justified,  is  the  result  of  the  other  two. 
Of  course,  responsibility  for  such  a  state  of  affairs  does  not  rest 
with  the  courts,  but  with  the  constitution  and  the  laws  that 
prescribe  the  stringent  rules  the  courts  must  follow.  A  judge 
often  sees  where,  if  a  little  discretion  were  given  him,  a  better 
dispensation  of  justice  would  result,  but  his  hands  are  tied.  One 
writer  describes  the  conditions  existing  in  our  judicial  system 
as  follows:  "Constitutions  and  laws  have  been  so  regardful  of 
the  individual's  right  that  they  have  given  to  every  suitor  an 
undue  liberty  to  stay  proceedings,  to  take  exceptions,  to  move 
in  arrest  of  judgment,  and  to  make  appeal.  These  rights,  in 
many  cases,  are  transformed  into  privileges  of  obstruction  and 
delay.  They  restrain  the  judges  from  doing  many  things  which 
judges  are  permitted  to  do  in  all  other  countries  and  which  if 


^Willoughby  and  Rogers   ''An   Introduction  to   the  Problem   of  Govern- 
ment," pp.  241-242. 


8  Bulletin 

allowed  here,  would  greatly  expedite  the  administration  of 
justice.  ^lany  of  the  laws  relating  to  judicial  procedure,  os- 
tensibly in  the  interest  of  justice,  actually  operate  to  withhold 
from  the  citizen  the  first  essential  of  justice — ^namely,  that  it 
*' shall  not  be  delayed  to  any  man."^  Dean  Viance  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Minnesota  Law  School  says:  "We  lead  the  world  in  most 
of  the  great  struggles  mankind  is  making,  but  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  law  America  lags  two  generations  behind  the  rest 
of  the  civilized  world." 

In  civil  matters  this  state  of  affairs  deters  many  from  seek- 
ing to  obtain  the  justice  rightly  due  them.  The  expense,  delay 
and  uncertainty  connected  with  the  administration  of  the  law 
causes  them  to  forego  their  legal  right.  In  criminal  matters  it 
may  almost  be  said  that  instead  of  preventing  crime  our  system 
encourages  crime.  Statistics  show  that  in  the  United  States  there 
are  more  than  one  hundred  homicides  per  million  population, 
whereas  in  France,  England  and  Germany  the  ratio  is  less  than 
twenty  per  million  population.  Moreover,  in  the  United  States 
there  is  only  about  one  execution  for  every  seventy-five  mur- 
ders. That  is,  seventy-four  out  of  every  seventy-five  murderers 
either  escape  punishment  or  pay  less  than  the  extreme  penalty 
for  their  crime.  In  New  York  City  alone  in  1918  there  were  221 
murders  but  only  77  convictions ;  in  Chicago  in  1919  there  were 
336  murders  but  only  44  convictions.  The  chances  of  punish- 
ment are  so  slight  that  the  criminally  inclined  are  willing  to  take 
the  risk.  Of  course  the  jury  system  as  operated  at  present  is 
partly  responsible  for  this  state  of  affairs,  but  our  rules  and 
methods  of  procedure  also  have  much  to  do  with  it.  Mr.  James 
M.  Beck  says,  "The  law's  delay  and  laxity  in  administration 
breed  a  spirit  of  contempt  and  too  often  invite  men  to  take  the 
law  into  their  own  hands." 

The  problems  involved  in  the  reform  of  our  judicial  system 
are:  (1)  unification  of  the  judicial  department,  (2)  simplifi- 
cation of  the  rules  of  procedure,  (3)  provision  for  disposing  of 
small  claims  and  minor  controversies,  thereby  reducing  expense 
and  delay  and  relieving  the  courts  of  much  unnecessary  work. 


'Munro  ''Government  of  the  United  States,"   pp.  499-500. 


Randolpii-Macon  Woman's  College  9 

Some  progress  has  been  made  in  a  few  of  our  states  but  no 
thorough-going:  reform  of  the  entire  judicial  system  has  yet 
been  carried  out  in  this  country.  In  1873  England  thoroughly 
reformed  her  judicial  system  with  the  result  that  England  today 
is  recognized  as  a  country  where  the  administration  of  justice 
is  direct,  simple  and  inexpensive. 

Summing  up  the  progress  thus  far  made  in  reforming  Ameri- 
can state  government  we  see  that  administrative  reorganization 
has  been  attempted  in  several  states  and  has  been  carried  out, 
in  part  at  least,  in  a  few  states.  Some  improvement  has  also 
been  made  in  some  of  the  states  in  the  administration  of  justice. 
But  no  state  has  yet  undertaken  any  thorough-going  reform  or 
reorganization  in  all  branches  of  its  government.  Proposals 
have  been  made,  for  example  in  Kansas  and  Oregon,  but  they 
have  been  too  radical  to  gain  popular  approval.  We  are  still  too 
much  attached  to  the  form  and  principles  of  our  state  govern- 
ment to  be  willing  to  consent  to  changes  that  would  violate  these 
principles.  But  is  it  not  possible  to  make  changes  in  the  entire 
range  of  state  government  that  will,  on  the  one  hand,  preserve 
these  principles  and  yet  provide  a  form  of  government  that  will 
be  more  efficient,  more  economical  and  more  responsive  to  public 
needs?  Some  such  plan  as  the  following  would  seem  to  answer 
this  question  : — 

I.   The  Executive  Department: 

There  should  be  a  governor  and  a  lieutenant-governor  elected 
for  four  years  by  popular  vote.  No  other  executive  or  adminis- 
trative official  should  be  chosen  by  the  people.  All  administrative 
work  should  be  consolidated  into  seven,  nine  or,  at  most,  a  small 
number  of  departments,  each  in  charge  of  a  head  appointed  by 
and  responsible  to  the  governor,  with  the  technical  work  in  each 
department  in  charge  of  experts  chosen  by  a  civil  service  sys- 
tem. This  would  centralize  the  administrative  work  and  place 
all  responsibility  for  this  work  in  the  hands  of  the  governor. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  governor  should  have  the  following 
powers : 


10  Bulletin 

1.  To  appoint  the  justices  of  the  supreme  court  with  the 
approval  of  the  legislature. 

2.  To  initiate  legislation  which  should  be  given  preferential 
consideration  by  the  legislature.  To  assist  the  governor,  as  well- 
as  members  of  the  legislature  in  preparing  bills,  there  should  be 
provided  a  legislative  reference  bureau  and  a  sufficient  number 
of  expert  draftsmen.  Also,  the  governor  should  have  the  privi- 
lege of  appearing  before  the  legislature,  either  in  person  or 
through  some  representative  of  the  executive  department  to 
advocate  and  defend  the  bills  he  may  introduce. 

3.  To  prepare  the  budget  to  be  presented  to  the  legislature 
which  in  turn  should  have  the  power  to  eliminate  or  reduce  but 
not  increase  any  item  therein. 

4.  To  veto  acts  of  the  legislature  which,  however,  should  be- 
come a  law  if  repassed  by  a  two-thirds  vote. 

II.   The  Legislative  Department  : 

There  should  be  a  legislature  of  one  house  of  moderate  size, 
the  members  of  which  should  be  chosen  by  popular  vote,  and  for 
the  same  length  of  time  as  the  governor,  from  relatively  large 
districts.  Over  this  legislature  the  lieutenant-governor  should 
preside,  though  he  should  not  have  the  power  usually  possessed 
by  an  American  speaker.  His  relation  to  the  legislature  should 
be  similar  to  that  which  exists  between  the  vice-president  and 
the  United  States  Senate  or  between  the  English  speaker  and 
the  House  of  Commons.  The  legislature  should,  however,  choose 
a  president  pro  tempore  to  preside  temporarily  in  the  absence 
of  the  lieutenant-governor  and  permanently  when  the  latter 
succeeds  to  the  governorship  on  the  death  or  removal  of  the 
governor. 

Among  the  powers  possessed  by  the  legislature  should  be: 

1.  The  general  power  of  legislation,  though  some  restriction 
should  be  placed  on  legislation  in  respect  to  local  government 
and  some  restraint  on  the  freedom  of  the  individual  member  to 
introduce  bills. 

2.  The  power  to  choose  an  auditor  to  audit  the  accounts  of 
the  treasurer. 


Randolph-Macon  Woman's  College  11 

3.  The  power  to  appoint  the  civil  service  commission. 

4.  The  power  to  investigate  the  work  of  any  administrative 
department. 

5.  The  power  to  remove  the  governor,  any  appointee  of  the 
governor  and  any  judge  by  a  three-fourths  vote. 

A  simpler  method  of  procedure  should  be  prescribed  for  the 
legislature  that  will  enable  it  to  do  its  work  with  greater  dis- 
patch and  that  will  remove  the  opportunity  for  deliberate  ob- 
struction on  the  part  of  a  few  members. 

III.   The  Judicial  Department: 

There  should  be  la  judicial  department  consisting  of  one  su- 
preme court  and  such  subordinate  courts  as  the  supreme  court 
may  deem  necessary  for  the  proper  administration  of  justice. 
The  judges  of  the  supreme  court  should  be  appointed  by  the 
governor,  with  the  consent  of  the  legislature,  and  the  judges  of 
the  subordinate  courts  should  be  appointed  by  the  supreme 
court  and  these  subordinate  courts  should  be  regarded  as 
branches  or  divisions  of  the  supreme  court.  The  procedure  to 
be  followed  by  all  these  courts  should  be  determined  by  general 
acts  of  the  legislature,  which  should  leave  to  the  judges  them- 
selves considerable  power  to  arrange  details  and  to  alter  the 
rules  as  the  demands  of  justice  may  dictate.  The  object  should 
be  to  unify  the  judicial  department  and  to  simplify  and  make 
more  elastic  the  method  of  procedure. 

Then  with  a  view  to  relieving  the  regular  courts  of  much 
unnecessary  work  and  to  reducing  expense  and  delay  in  minor 
causes,  conciliation  courts  and  courts  of  small  claims  should  be 
provided  to  settle  many  minor  claims  and  disputes  without  going 
through  the  regular  judicial  process.  The  success  of  the  Cleve- 
land small  claims  court  and  of  many  similar  courts  in  foreign 
countries  proves  the  wisdom  and  practicability  of  such  in- 
stitutions. 

Now  the  foregoing  suggestions  for  the  reconstruction  of  state 
governments  are  not  radical  or  revolutionary.  The  plan  pro- 
posed is  a  compromise  plan.  It  preserves  intact  the  principle  of 
separation  of  powers  and  checks  and  balances.    It  merely  Con- 


12  Bulletin 

solklates  power.  It  consolidates  all  executive  and  administrative 
power  in  the  governor;  it  consolidates  all  legislative  power  in  a 
single  house  or  chamber;  it  consolidates  all  judicial  power  in 
one  supreme  court.  But  each  of  these  consolidated  departments 
may  influence  and  check  the  others.  The  governor  miay  influence 
and  check  the  legislature  by  his  power  (a)  to  call  extra  sessions, 
(b)  to  introduce  bills,  (c)  to  veto  acts  of  the  legislature.  The 
legislature  may  influence  and  check  the  governor  (a)  by  its 
control  over  the  purse,  (b)  by  its  power  to  investigate  any  of 
the  administrative  departments,  (c)  by  its  power  to  remove  the 
governor  or  any  of  his  appointees.  The  judiciary  may  influence 
and  check  the  other  departments  exactly  as  it  does  now,  viz.,  by 
its  power  to  interpret  the  laws  and  the  constitution  and  thereby 
to  define  the  power  of  both  the  executive  and  the  legislature. 

Certain  benefits  may  confidently  be  claimed  for  such  a  form  of 
government  in  the  way  of  greater  energy,  efficiency  and  re- 
sponsiveness to  public  opinion.  The  administrative  department 
would  be  unified,  centralized  and  integrated,  real  responsibility 
and  supervision  would  be  provided  and  this  would  result  in 
greater  efficiency  and  economy.  In  the  legislative  department 
there  w^ould  be  a  centralization  of  power  and  responsibility, 
real  leadership  in  legislation  would  be  provided  and  this  would 
lead  to  greater  dispatch  in  enacting  laws  and  to  the  elimination 
of  much  delay  and  friction.  Moreover,  we  might  reasonably  ex- 
pect an  improvement  in  the  personnel  and  ability  of  the  legis- 
lators in  conformity  with  the  rule  that  the  greater  the  power 
and  responsibility  of  an  office,  the  greater  the  ability  that  office 
attracts.  This  in  turn  would  result  in  a  much  higher  quality  of 
legislation.  Finally,  the  judicial  department  would  be  unified 
and  the  procedure  of  the  courts  would  be  simplified  with  the 
result  of  less  expense  and  delay  in  the  administration  of  justice. 

In  his  lectures  on  "Constitutional  Government  in  the  United 
States,"  President  Wilson  says:  ''It  may  turn  out  that  what 
our  state  governments  need  is  not  to  be  sapped  of  their  powers 
and  subordinated  to  Congress,  but  to  be  reorganized  along 
simpler  lines  which  will  make  them  real  organs  of  public 
opinion  ....  We  began  to  strip  our  city  governments  of  their 


Randolpii-Macon  Woman's  College  13 

powers  and  to  transfer  them  to  state  commissions  or  back  to 
the  legislatures  of  the  states  very  much  as  we  are  now  stripping 
the  states  of  their  powers  and  putting  them  in  the  hands  of 
federal  commissions  .  .  .  But  it  did  not  take  us  long,  fortu- 
nately, to  see  that  we  were  moving  in  the  wrong  direction.  We 
have  now  turned  to  the  better  way  of  reconsidering  the  whole 
question  of  the  organization  of  city  governments,  and  are  likely 
within  a  generation  to  purify  them  by  simplifying  them  .... 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  we  shall  presently  have  the  same  light 
dawn  upon  us  with  regard  to  our  state  governments,  and,  instead 
of  upsetting  an  ancient  system  hallowed  by  long  use  and  deep 
devotion,  revitalize  it  by  reorganization."^ 

The  greatest  obstacle  to  any  plan  for  reconstructing  state 
government  is  our  reluctance  to  give  up  forms  that  have  been 
established  for  a  long  time  and  to  change  institutions  that  have 
become  venerable  with  age.  But  a  lesson  we  are  constantly 
learning  is  that  times  and  conditions  change  land  institutions 
must  change  with  them.  The  attitude  we  should  take  toward 
political  reform  cannot  be  better  expressed  than  in  the  foUow- 
words  of  Jefferson.  Writing  to  Samuel  Kercheval  in  1816  he 
said:  "Some  men  look  at  constitutions  with  sanctimonious  rev- 
erence, and  deem  them  like  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  too  sacred 
to  be  touched.  They  ascribe  to  the  men  of  the  preceding  age  a 
wisdom  more  than  human,  and  suppose  what  they  did  to  be 
beyond  amendment.  I  knew  that  age  well;  I  belonged  to  it,  and 
labored  with  it.  It  deserved  well  of  its  country.  It  was  very 
like  the  present  but  without  the  experience  of  the  present;  and 
forty  years  of  experience  in  government  is  Avorth  a  century  of 
book-reading;  and  this  they  would  say  themselves,  were  they  to 
rise  from  the  dead.  I  am  certainly  not  an  advocate  of  frequent 
and  untried  changes  in  laws  and  constitutions.  I  think  moderate 
imperfections  had  better  be  borne  with;  because,  when  once 
known,  we  accommodate  ourselves  to  them  and  find  practical 
means  of  correcting  their  ill  effects.   But  I  know  also  that  laws 


'Woodrow  Wilson   ''Constitutional   Government  in  tlie   United  States," 
pp.  191,  196,  197. 


14  Bulletin 

and  institutions  must  go  hand  in  liand  with  the  progress  of  the 
luinian  mind."^ 


'Quoted  in  Ilolcombe,  ''State  Government  in  the  United  States,"  p.  480. 


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